Sturdy bench or a built in seating (forgetting the name)- it's like a booth type seating with storage underneath?

I'm 18 months post-partum and 18 pounds over my prepregnancy weight. Nothing is working to get to weight off, I'm trying to focus on other areas of my life. I'd love to lose my gut (why is most of my weight right in my belly since having kids?!?!?) but in the grand scheme I'm not going to look back on my life and feel bad about being 20 pounds over weight. I dunno...

Sturdy bench or a built in seating (forgetting the name)- it's like a booth type seating with storage underneath?

I don't. I wouldn't be surprised if my mom still had it though. I never brought it to our home and I definitely wouldn't now- I have no daughters!

You are not alone. I can't tell you how much energy I've given to sorting this out. We are doing veritas press history. We are doing year 1 (OT/ancient Egypt) this year in first grade even though they recommended it for second. We actually haven't decided if we will do omnibus or roman roads. I've given our family a deadline of 2017 to figure it out (LOL). Anyways, I wrote out how it would work with either one. I need to keep my kids together for my sanity. If you have the money for the online self-paced I think it would be more doable to have them on different years. We don't have the money for this. I'm hoping we will have a bigger schooling budget by the time we reach 7th grade or so. So, it will work out for us that our oldest will be done with the history cycle in 5th grade. We will do a transition year that year. VP has a transition guide or you could do just the pages of history vol. 1 & 2 (these look really exciting). For my middle son, he does history with us and listens to our read alouds but I keep it very simple. He will go through with the cards for a second time starting in third and we will pick up the pace and get the whole cycle done again but in 3 years. It will work out for my youngest to start history when boy #2 is doing his second round. His is a little messed up but he will go through the cards twice but in 3 years time each. Then he can start omnibus. So honestly, I made my own schedule because I needed the ability to have them in the same time periods but I also like the idea of completing the history cycle (it's what drew me to classical education in the first place). I think it's okay to do what fits best. You may end up with a good amount of time for a transition period or a us history/state history/ government.

I couldn't lose weight for almost a year last year. Low carb worked for 15 pounds but then nothing. I went on the petite advantage diet and lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks, then had a mental breakdown and quit but the weight stayed off- I started again today. I couldn't believe it worked and I hope I can see good results again. I hope you can figure it out- it sucks when we have a problem and no one to help.

See if your washer has a delay cycle button. This has changed my life! I put it in at night and it finishes by 5 am when I get up. I go put it in the dryer and then get it out of the dryer when it's done and fold. Then it's ready to be put away when the kids get up. Check out the book glorious one pot meals. These have been the most helpful recently!

We use long story short.

I'm glad to see such a large number of people also hating the word p.a.n.t.i.e.s. I hate it more than anything in the world and won't even say it. *gag*

My first and third didn't even notice when I weaned them!!! Makes me laugh. My second, on the other hand, would follow me around the house crying "mama" and signing "milk"- also makes me laugh. :)

I still wear pants but have been wearing skirts and dresses more lately. Why? Because I don't fit into any of my prepregnancy pants. I'm 16 1/2 months post partum. No one has really mentioned anything to me but my mum and dad say I look nice (my mom always says that, even when I clearly don't!). I think most people will be supportive or not make a big deal about it.

Several times. We used to have more flexibility. The first time was for an unpaid internship when we were in college. We didn't have a place to live for the 3 months we planned to be there and only took what we could fit in our car. We found a place to live and it all worked out. We did move back to our college town for our senior year but 1 year later we were moving across the country this time with a newborn. We had no job lined up, just an apartment and acceptance to a grad school. After 10 months there we picked up and moved with our 1 year old for an entire summer for a paid internship. We then went back "home" and 4 years after that moved to another state. Husband had a job, but no place to live. He lived in a tent for 3 weeks, while the kids and I (5, 3, & 6 months) put our house on the market and hubby found us a rental place. We are currently job searching in 2 different cities and hope to move away from this state within the next year to two honestly. I'm thinking we might just be nomads... but honestly we just miss our church so I can see us staying in one of our two cities for a long time, unless something drastic moves us away... this coming from a woman who has packed up everything and moved 10 times in the past 8 years. lol.

I've always had to steer clear of junior sections or "teenage" stores (old navy even, also american eagle, etc) and shop in stores for women. The tops are always too short after stretching over my bust. I look for short pants (some stores have them, these are different than the petite section, though hard to find). My mom usually has to hem most of my pants. I've recently started wearing more skirts because I don't really have to worry about the length. Bermuda shorts seem to be fine but capri's look more like short pants. It takes bringing hundreds into the dressing room and only coming out with a small handful. If you find something that fits buy one in every color (LOL.) Good luck!

I started wearing contacts at 12 and wore them everyday (even through my labors!) for 12 years. Then I had to stop wearing them due to constant eye infections. After 2 years off I tried again and tried 4 different pairs (astigmatism and regular) and didn't like any of them- headaches and dizziness... so I gave up and stuck to glasses. The only problem I had at first (and still now, honestly) was touching my eyes. Disgusting. I cried for like an hour when I first got them but slowly got used to it. :)

Great. Thank you. We will focus on letter formation for the next several weeks. I'm finding it hard to line up with a curriculum, wanting to be caught up enough but not so its too redundant.

I'm not sure how much sense I am making... How proficient should he be in writing his letters before starting level 1 of writing with ease?

I'm curious if my son should be able to form every letter, an capitals, before beginning writing with ease. Or is that included in the beginning. He does know most of his letters, but needs work on a few. Should we focus on that before starting wwe level 1?

I haven't bought anything at Aldi's that I don't like. I do wish they had options without sugar added (peanut butter, applesauce, etc). But I get pretty much everything I need at aldi every week. It's the only way I can stay in our grocery budget. We eat very simply, though I'd love to buy organic, etc. we just don't have the money. Their diapers are great too. I also like how small it is- so much easier when pregnant, have a baby, a potty training kid, or lots of little ones to follow behind me. :)

I kinda feel like its home in every place we live. But when I travel back to previous towns/state it also feels like home. Now I feel weird. I think home for me is anything that is familiar- so once I adjust or some place that I had considered home at one time or another.

We adopted a dog from a rescue and I highly recommend this for a few reasons. He is older so he was trained and not hyper. We knew his temperament before committing (we needed a dog good around kids). We have a German short haired pointer. Typically these are very high energy (everyone we talked to said it would be a good fit for our family) but our dog is the biggest couch potato. They are usually used for hunting but any loud noise scares our dog to pieces. So he lays on the couch but will run 8 miles with my husband if he gets the chance. He doesn't like to go outside much so we snuggle on the couch. He only uses the bathroom 1-2 a day and will go upwards of 24 hours if it is storming. he is about 54 pounds but only eats once a day. I budget $40 a month for his food and Medicine and at least one vet visit (more if he gets sick/injured) per year which u save about $400 from our taxes as his fund, if needed. I am very, very, very allergic to cats and bunnies and certain dogs. My in laws have 2 dauschounds (I know i spelled that wrong) and a chewheenie (sp?)- I can tolerate the chewheenie an the short haired dauschounds but not the long hairs one. I can only tolerate my parens lab for a little bit and if the house is vacuumed well. Our gsp is short haired and shed a ton when we first got him (nerves) but barely sheds now and I have no issues. So you may not be stuck with hypoallergenic, it all depends. I also love how he cleans up any food the baby drops :)

I'm on my fitness pal as saranharm You can change the names of meals but I don't know how personally.

I love some corn tortillas sliced thin and fried crispy over black beans with some spices (salt, cumin, onion, garlic.) hope you feel better.

Our biggest things we've done is: Drop the Internet if the price went up. We went on my parents cell phone plan for a cheaper rate (they have never passed along the bill but have paid it for us.) Cut own hair. Contact any alumni associations- we got some really good deals for our insurance through our university. Look into a health sharing plan, like Samaritan's. We've always lived on little so we didn't have to slash much. Our kids haven't been in activities, except swim lessons once. Our vacations are only to visit family with an occasional overnighter just us using our credit card points. Is there anything to refinance to get a better rate (maybe your mortgage? If you own.)

I'm looking to see if anyone has refinanced a car loan? Where should I start if I am trying to lower my monthly payment?